Alice Leahy, Letter to The Irish Times: Drawbacks of Public Private Partnerships

Madam,

Rory Ahern’s letter of June 3rd was a very valuable contribution to this debate. His conclusions are quite alarming, especially as he has been researching the subject for four years.

Working in the front line with people who are homeless, we are all too aware about how easily the people directly affected can seem not to matter at all if money can be saved in the provision of public services.
Perhaps what is most disturbing is his finding that in some instances PPPs can be more expensive than direct public provision, the inference being that human suffering is being inflicted unnecessarily in pursuit of an ideology that seems to imply that making profits is more important than people.

Even more alarming is the idea that the taxpayer is subsidising the making of profits in the provision of public services, given that they can be provided more cheaply by direct State provision. This undermines any notion of fairness and justice. That finding alone should result in calls for a public inquiry.

– Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,
Director & Co-Founder,
TRUST,
Dublin 8.

Call for Voluntary Sector to Unite to Resist Public Private Partnerships

“We cannot expect the private sector, which is solely concerned with making profits, to protect peoples’ rights to basic services.”

“creeping privatisation of homeless services, by shifting the burden to the voluntary sector, has helped to silence once authentic voices”

Calling on the Voluntary Sector to unite to resist PPPs and privatisation in the health, social and homeless services ALICE LEAHY, Director & Co-Founder of TRUST, the social and health service for people who are homeless, said today (WED. 28 May, 2008) that the recent collapse of PPPs in Dublin represented a shattering blow to the families involved waiting for social housing and the redevelopment of their areas.

The Voluntary Sector must become much more forceful, ALICE LEAHY said as advocates in defending those in society who have no voice instead of becoming involved in providing services that should be provided by the State. It is inevitable, she maintained that “the voluntary sector risks becoming complicit, in letting the State avoid having to provide decent quality public services, unless we speak with one voice in demanding justice for the most deprived”.

“PPPs and the privatisation of services are not about caring for people, they represent opportunities for the private sector to maximise profits in areas where the State should be in the driving seat protecting peoples’ rights. If we are serious about caring for people as people, everyone in the voluntary sector must reject the encroachment of privatisation in all its form in the health and social services, and in the provision of accommodation for people who are homeless,” she said.

ALICE LEAHY went on:

“We have argued against this trend because we have seen the serious consequences for the people we work with. Many well meaning people in the voluntary sector let the government off the hook, when they accept apparently large amounts of money to take over the role of the State in providing services. This represents a form of privatisation that has enabled services to be provided on the cheap, with the shortfall in service quality falling on the most vulnerable.”

Alice Leahy maintained that goodwill and generosity has been exploited. “Worse still, creeping privatisation of homeless services by shifting the burden to the voluntary sector has helped to silence once authentic voices, because to maintain services and keep the money coming in they are forced to keep quiet,” she said.

Advocating human rights based approaches in the provision of services ALICE LEAHY said “they constantly remind us we are not providing charity, or advocating charitable giving, but demanding that we live up to the principles of justice and fair play outlined in our constitution which we all are supposed to subscribe to.”

Call on Taoiseach to Meet People Who are Homeless

Taskforce on Homelessness

Madam,

The announcement that incoming Taoiseach Brian Cowen has set up a Taskforce to look at homelessness in Dublin (The Irish Times, May 1st) is welcome – only because at last the Government has recognised there is a developing crisis because of the failure to provide adequate housing and support services. This week’s RTÉ Prime Time programme showed in a compelling way what everyone involved in this area has known for some time: there is a real shortage of accommodation and on any night of the week many people seeking shelter are left to sleep rough.

We have no confidence the proposed taskforce will make any difference unless the Ministers’ involved are prepared to go out and see for themselves conditions on the ground. If Mr Cowen and his colleagues are serious, they must talk both to people who are homeless, and to the front-line workers trying to help them.

Present policy is geared only to clear the streets of the visible signs of homelessness, even if that means putting people into wholly inadequate accommodation. Many people find themselves on the streets not just because they are without accommodation, but because of addiction, mental health problems and family breakdown. They are moved on from one service provider to another in a system that is insufficiently funded and organised to provide them with any real help, and represents nothing more than a poor attempt to keep the streets clear at all costs, regardless of the consequences.

We would welcome the chance to show Mr Cowen and his colleague just how wasteful and dysfunctional is the system over which they are presiding, and how cruel and inhumane it can be to those least able to cope.

– Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,
Director Co-Founder,
TRUST,
Bride Road,
Dublin 8.

Pat Kenny Launches TRUST New Book To Promote New Kind of Ireland

Picture shows Alice with from left/right John Tierney, Dublin City Manager at a launch reception attended by over 400 guests in Dublin City Hall, Dame Street.

RTE’s Pat Kenny launches ‘Wasting Time with People?’ Edited & Compiled by Alice Leahy, Director & Co-Founder of TRUST in City Hall, Dame Street

Alice Leahy calls for a complete rethink about the way in which society is organised “to make more time for people, more time to be with our families, and more caring time for everyone who comes into contact with State services with less pressure on people to appear successful. The evidence of the need for urgent action, if any was needed, was provided again so tragically in recent days.”

‘Wasting Time with People?’ a new book launched in City Hall today, aims to promote a new kind of Ireland. Speaking at the launch Alice Leahy, the Director and Co-Founder of TRUST, who edited and compiled the book, said that “working in the front line with people who become homeless on the street it is all too easy to appreciate the importance of giving time to others. If we really want to make Ireland a much more inclusive society and ensure everyone feels wanted we must make more time for people, more time for family life, more caring time for people who come into contact with State services at all levels. The evidence of the need for urgent action, if any was needed, was provided again so tragically in recent days.”

‘Wasting Time with People?’ is published by Gill & Macmillan and features contributions from over seventy people from well known figures in Irish society to people who are homeless. Contributors include Robert Ballagh, Maeve Binchy, Conor Brady, Louis Copeland, Theo Dorgan, Bernard Farrell, Gerard Mannix Flynn, Aine Lawlor, John Lonergan, David Norris, Terry Prone and Fergal Quinn.

Alice Leahy said that if ‘Wasting Time with People?’ kick starts a debate about why at a time of material success so many people are complaining about being “time poor” and the implications of that for all of us it will have been a tremendous success.

Alice Leahy went on: “As the pace of life in Ireland increases almost everyday, and stress becomes a fact of life for everyone, the amount of time we have, even for each other, seems to be harder and harder to find. In TRUST we meet the casualties, those who cannot fit in or keep up, and we know from our experience there is no hope of ever creating a society that will be a welcoming place for the outsider unless we can make time for others both in our families and communities. Indeed, that applies equally to people working in public service, where staff are sometimes made to feel they are “wasting time with people” when they give, even the most vulnerable, the time and attention they need.”

Alice Leahy also said that through this book TRUST is seeking to show how anyone can make a difference if they are prepared to make time for others. “Indeed, it is remarkable how we often talk about what the State can do to help others, and often forget the most important catalyst in creating a better society is what we do ourselves. We must make the first step, especially in terms of helping those who are outsiders feel part of the community. Time is required and until we recognise that we have to invest time with others, in our families, in our communities and in helping those who are forgotten we will never make progress in creating a truly inclusive society,” she said.